Our second look at Fallout 3

From growing up in Vault 101 to your first power armor and decapitated Super Mutant

We got to see how our favorite Post Nuclear Role-Playing game team from Bethesda is doing on Fallout 3, and it looks like they're still well on track for a release this Fall. They let us take a look at a few of their saved games and a new game, which began like this (except bigger):

Images of burnt out buildings and devastated shells of cities follow the opening video, and a narration - which will be familiar to fans of the original two Fallout games - begins "War, war never changes." Fallout 3 is set in a post apocalyptic future, a couple hundred years after the devastating nuclear war of 2077 that only bits and scraps of humanity survived. The few that did were usually hidden in huge underground Vaults to protect them from the bombs and radiation. As the narrator goes on, you learn that Vault 101 (the one you're in) didn't open after the war was over: "Here you were born. It's here you will die" is one of the last things you hear before the gameplay begins, which is fitting. You take control of your Vault dweller from the moment he's born into the dim, metallic world.

At first, all you can do is cry (hit the A button) and listen to the doctor speak, who happens to be your father. This is just the first of several quick stops through your childhood, which cleverly form the tutorial and character creation section of the game. When someone asks if you're a boy or a girl, a selection box opens and your dad's response is dictated by your decision. You choose your name, and then customize your face on a Growth Projection Machine. Fallout offers several preset character faces, or you can construct someone from scratch - don't worry, there are dozens and dozens of facial hair options. After finishing that, the game skips ahead one year.

At age one, your father's face is no longer masked by a surgical mask, and the A button triggers "Dada" instead of crying. His face is a reflection of the choices that you made for your own appearance. When he leaves, you can crawl around the room. The very first mission is to unlock your metal playpen andfind the book You're S.P.E.C.I.A.L., which is another character creation device. It lets you adjust your attributes as you flip through the pages -S is for Strength, P is for Perception, E is for Endurance, etc.